He ran Credit Suisse's private bank in the U.S. for the last three years, but after the Swiss bank sold the unit to Wells Fargo, he found himself out of a job. Now's he's resurfaced at a prominent rival.

Philip Vasan was a 23-year veteran of Credit Suisse and rose to head its private bank. Last October, new Credit Suisse CEO Tidjane Thiam decided to sell the U.S. unit as part of a wider restructuring and capital-raising, leading Vasan to leave.

Now Vasan has resurfaced at the world's largest asset manager, Blackrock, as newswire «Dow Jones» reported.

Particular Job in Mind

Blackrock has hired Vasan with a very particular job in mind that leans heavily on his expertise at Credit Suisse: the banker will develop Blackrock products and new portfolios for private banks and independent wealth advisers.

That means that the asset manager is customizing the countless actively managed mutual funds as well as index trackers it offers – or going from off-the-rack to couture.

An Attempt to Sell More Products

Blackrock is attempting to deepen client relationships, according to an internal memorandum disclosing Vasan's hire. The asset manager's push, which encroaches on private banks' territory, is also an attempt to sell more Blackrock products to clients, and generate more fees.